Thursday, August 7, 2014

A funny thing happened during the release party for Goddess, Awakened.
At first, we were having fun, discussing mythological goddesses and favorite
authors and books.

Then someone asked if my book promoted feminism. The question confused
me at the time. Here was my answer:

“Not at all. The theme encourages women to empower themselves by
accepting who they truly are and strengthening their unique talents. All things
positive.”

Maybe I should explain why I began writing this series, The Goddess
Connection, which will all be paranormals/fantasies based in mythology, all
stand-alones, each based on a different goddess.

I love empowering women. Celebrating their uniqueness. Each of us have
talents or skills we might view as quirks, and maybe we even dislike ourselves
because of them. Or maybe we simply ignore them to fit into a more standardized
life where we go through the motions but don’t really feel fulfilled.

In each of these books, the heroine will have lifelong quirks that she
sees as detrimental, but by the end, she’ll learn that these quirks are
actually strengths. They help define her as an individual, and that’s not a bad
thing.

So it saddened me that, when I read the answers to one of the questions
I posed at the party, “Do you think women should be treated like goddesses?”
and some said no. Some argued women shouldn’t be put on a pedestal – and I
agreed:

“that’s definitely not the message I want to send. As I mentioned
above, the idea is *not* to put women on a pedestal or treat them as divas, but
to value who they are in all their flaws, unique beauty, and talents. The theme
of the Goddess Connection is for women to nurture that in themselves, too, and
not let others devalue us. I hope that makes sense.”

I’m definitely confused too. Obviously, these young women have the
wrong idea about feminism. Maybe they picture a militant society where females
are barely distinguishable from males, some sci-fi interpretation that skews
the real meaning. To me, feminism honors the struggle and hardships women
endured to receive basic rights that should be afforded any human. To vote. To
have an education. To choose for themselves how to live their lives. To better
themselves in whatever way that appeals to them.

Lately, I’ve been seeing the term thrown around pretty freely, and it’s
disturbing. Another article claimed the Starz series based on Diana Gabaldon’s
work was the “feminist” answer to Game of Thrones. Why do journalists feel the
need to pit one show against another? One gender against another? (Yes, I know –
to boost ratings)

The HuffPost article put the question about a feminist label for my
books in perspective, and if someone asks again, I’ll have to better qualify my
answer.

Yes, to be a goddess means to embrace your best self. The only way to
do that is by freeing yourself from restraints, either from outside or
originating in yourself.

In my mind, the same definition applies to feminism.

And if you’re interested in The Goddess Connection, the first book is
now available from Kensington Publishing’s Lyrical Press imprint.

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The Susquehanna Writers are authors living in the beautiful Susquehanna Valley in central Pennsylvania. Our genres include suspense, military thrillers, young adult, urban fantasy, speculative, mainstream and romance. Bookmark this blog and visit often!